Why I am a
Christian

Why am I a Christian? It's
amazing how such a complex issue can be contained within such a simple
five-word question! This question can be answered on several different levels.

Before I explain why I am a Christian, I will give some
common motivations that do not apply to me. Someone has said that the
best reason for becoming a Christian is other Christians, and the best reason
for not becoming a Christian is other Christians. This paradoxical
statement emphasizes the point that religion brings out both the best and the
worst in people. It is undeniable that people have accomplished great things in
the name of Christianity (Mother Theresa comes to mind). It is also
undeniable that people have performed horrendous acts in the name of
Christianity (the Crusades comes to mind). Bertrand Russell, the famous
mathematician and philosopher, wrote a book called Why I am not a Christian.
One of his primary reasons for rejecting Christianity was the hypocrisy of
Christians. I am sure that this reasoning motivates many non-Christians today
also. On the other hand, author G. K. Chesterton wrote that "the
reason why I am a Christian is that the Church is living and not a dead
teacher." Like Chesterton, there have been many others who converted to
Christianity because of the influence of other Christians. Having been around
Christians all of my life I can see both Russell's
and Chesterton's point
of view. But, like Russell, I have seen too many bad Christians to join them on
their own merit. If my impression of Christians (in general) was the sole
criterion, I would choose not to be a Christian.

Another common motivation for Christianity which does not
apply to me is the avoidance of hell. This is the idea behind Pascal's Wager, named after the
famous mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. He said that if
Christianity is true, then after death Christians will go to heaven while
non-Christians will go to hell. But if Christianity is false, then after death
both Christians and non-Christians will simply cease to exist. So if
Christianity is false then Christians have nothing to lose. But if Christianity
is true then Christians have everything to gain and non-Christians have
everything to lose. So, given the available options and the potential
consequences, it makes sense to be a Christian. This is a way of 'covering your bets.' While I think that Pascal's Wager does have merit, it
does not especially appeal to me. I try to choose the right thing in spite of
the consequences. (This is my idealistic streak coming out.) So if I was
convinced that Christianity was false I would not be a Christian, even though I
would knowingly be taking a small risk of going to hell. And if I was convinced
that Christianity was true, I would be a Christian even if I knew there was no
heaven or hell.

This brings me to my primary thesis - the reason why I am a
Christian. I am a Christian simply because I believe that Christianity is true.
On one level I can say that I am a Christian because my parents raised me that
way. If my parents raised me as an atheist or in some other religion, perhaps I
would not be a Christian. What would I be like if I had different parents or if
I was raised in a different religion? This is a speculative question, and the
bottom line is that I simply do not know the answer. But I like to think that I
would be a Christian today even if my parents did not raise me that way. I can
honestly say that if I became convinced that Christianity was not objectively
true, I would renounce my faith. I am committed to truth and I believe that
Christianity is true. Hence I am a Christian.

This brings me to the question, "Why am I convinced that
Christianity is true?" I have been convinced on the basis of nature and
the Bible. Evidence for the truth of Christianity is explored in the discipline
known as Christian Apologetics. (According to the popular usage of the
word apologetic, this seems to indicate that Christians are
embarrassingly apologizing for their beliefs. However, the word apologetics
is derived from the Greek apologia, which means the communication and
defense of Christianity.) Here are a few summaries of evidences for the existence
of God and the truth of Christianity.

Throughout all time and in all cultures, people (in
general) have always been convinced that God exists and that right and
wrong exist. Why? Does a belief in God have some evolutionary
or survival value? This general belief in the supernatural points to the
imprint of God on the conscience of humanity.

The complexity of the universe indicates the existence
of a designer. The physical characteristics of the universe and
the earth are perfect for the existence of life in general and human life
in particular. These characteristics include the expansion rate of the
universe, the distance of the earth from the sun, the complexity of the
human brain, the relative masses of atomic particles, and many more. The
well known atheist J. L. Mackie wrote [1, p. 141], "There
is only one actual universe, with a unique set of basic materials and
physical constants, and it is therefore surprising that the elements of
this unique setup are just right for life when they might easily have been
wrong."

The origin of life defies natural explanation.
The famous astronomer Sir Frederick Hoyle (an agnostic) made the
following analogy of the possibility of the chance origin of life [2,
p. 19]: "What are the chances that a tornado might blow through a
junkyard containing all the parts of a 747, accidentally assemble them
into a plane, and leave it ready for take-off? The possibilities are so
small as to be negligible even if a tornado were to blow through enough
junkyards to fill the whole universe."Hoyle also wrote [2, p. 220], "There are so many of these odd
coincidences essential to life that some explanation seems required to
account for them." University of Virginia astronomer J. Trefil estimates the probability of life existing
anywhere in the universe to be one in a billion."If I were a religious man," Trefil wrote [3, p. 252], "I would say that
everything we have learned about life in the past twenty years shows that
we are unique, and therefore special, in God's
sight."Sir Francis Crick
is quoted in Scientific American [4] as saying, "The origin of
life appears to be almost a miracle" (page 125).
Harold Klein, in the same article, says that "the simplest
bacterium is so damned complicated from the point of view of a chemist
that it is almost impossible to imagine how it happened" (page 120).

The nature of the Bible indicates a supernatural
source. It was written over a 1500-year time span by 40
different authors in different cultures and languages, yet it contains an
astounding consistency in its message. There are certainly inconsistencies
in the Bible (like in any book), but the inconsistencies are relatively
insignificant discrepancies on peripheral issues. The truth of the Bible
continues to be verified independently by archaeologists and historians,
and the fulfilled prophecies contained in the Bible can only be described
as amazingly "coincidental."

The existence of God and the truth of the Bible cannot be
proved. But although the evidences summarized above are by no means definitive,
they are convincing enough to me (and I think to most honest and rational
persons) to conclude that Christianity is true. And that is why I am a
Christian.

Here are some recommended books on the issues discussed
above. All of the books below are written for educated non-professionals who
want a serious discussion of the issues without having formal training in
astronomy, philosophy, or any other particular field.

-The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, by
John Barrow and Frank Tipler - Both authors are
non-Christians who are world-class scientists - Barrow in astronomy and Tipler in physics. This book recognizes the apparent
fine-tuning displayed by the physical constants and natural laws that describe
the behavior of the universe. Instead of attributing this fine-tuning to God,
they attribute it to the anthropic principle, described in this book.

-Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the
Universe, by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee - I am not sure of the
authors' religious
beliefs, but they are both committed to naturalism (that is, that the universe
is closed to any activity by God). This book, using more recent scientific
information, revisits the questions posed in 1981 by James Trefil
and Robert Rood in their book 'Are
We Alone?' Ward and
Brownlee conclude that microbial life is probably common in the universe. But
they also conclude that so many things have to progress perfectly in order for
intelligent life to evolve, the odds against its existence are astronomical.

-The Accidental Universe, by Paul Davies -
Davies is a top-rate cosmologist. Like Barrow and Tipler
(see above), Davies is a non-Christian who recognizes the "apparently
miraculous accidents of nature that have enabled the universe to evolve its
familiar structures: atoms, stars, galaxies, and life itself." He tries to
explain this in purely naturalistic terms without reference to God. One of his
proposals is the many-universes theory. This theory states that if there are an
infinite number of universes, then of course one of those universes will
exhibit the amazing coincidences that make life possible, and we just happen to
live in that particular universe.

-Christian Apologetics, by Norman Geisler
- This book, written by a Christian professor of theology, is more
philosophical than scientific. It first discusses how we can know what is true,
then proceeds to demonstrate that only the Christian worldview satisfies the
philosophical criteria for objective truth. It concludes with a historical
verification of the claims of Christianity, including the historical
reliability of the Bible and the deity of Jesus.

-The Creation Hypothesis, edited by J.P.
Moreland - This is a collection of seven contributions that discuss scientific
evidence for the existence of God. The first three chapters are philosophical
and the last four chapters are scientific. The four chapters of scientific
evidence include astronomical evidences, the information content of DNA, evidence
from the fossil record, and the origin of human language.

-Scaling the Secular City, by J.P.
Moreland - This book, written by a professor of philosophy of religion,
presents a good mix of philosophical and scientific arguments for the existence
of God and the truth of Christianity. The book explores the relationship
between science and religion and offers arguments for the historicity of the
resurrection of Jesus.

-The Creator and the Cosmos, by Hugh Ross
- This book shows that many characteristics of the universe are fine-tuned for
the existence of human life. It expresses many of Barrow and Tipler's results, and Davies' results, in more readable
terms. It includes personal notes by the author describing how he became a
Christian and why most scientists refuse to convert to Christianity even after
seeing the evidence of fine-tuning. Hugh Ross is an astrophysicist who founded Reasons to Believe, and I recommend all of
his books.

-The Fingerprint of God, by Hugh Ross -
This is similar to The Creator and the Cosmos but it contains a more
varied treatment of the same topics. Written by an astronomer, it includes
historical material related to the roots of cosmology and scientists' initial
reluctance (in the early to middle 1900s) to accept the big bang theory. It
also discusses Biblical material, including an in-depth analysis of the Genesis
creation account. The author debunks young earth creationism and shows that the
Bible's account of creation is consistent with scientists' view of the
beginning of the universe and the beginning and evolution of life.

-Show Me God, by Fred Heeren
- This is an interesting and readable book that discusses scientists search for
extraterrestrial life, the big bang theory, and the fine-tuning of many
cosmological constants. The author is a science writer who uses interviews with
many top scientists (almost all of whom are non-Christians) to bolster his
argument that only God could account for the design that we observe in the
universe. You can read my review
of the book on the American Scientific Affiliation's web site.

-Science, Life and Christian Belief, by
Malcolm Jeeves and R.J. Berry - This is a collection of 13 essays on broadly
ranging areas related to the integration of Christianity and science. The
interesting and informative essays cover topics such as the influence of
Christianity on the rise of modern science, the creation/evolution debate, analyses
of human nature from the perspectives of science and Christianity, the
implications of science for theology, and the implications of theology for
science.